Montgomery Bus Boycott Essay, Research Paper

Montgomery Bus Boycott

One of the events that caught my attention from Eyes on the Prize was the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The Montgomery Bus Boycott gave me a clearer aspect of the Civil Rights Movement as a whole. If it were not for this movement there would be a lack of freedom to this day.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott marked the end of segregation in Montgomery. This movement started on December 1, 1995, when Rosa Parks was arrested for not standing and letting a white bus rider take her seat. It was an established rule in the Montgomery that African-American riders had to sit in the back. Blacks were also expected to surrender their seat to a white bus rider if it was needed. Rosa Parks, however, broke these rules.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery. He and other African-American community leaders felt a protest of some kind was needed. A meeting was called and a large crowd came to the church to hear his words. Dr. King told the crowd that the only way they could fight back would be to boycott the bus company.

On the morning of December 5, the African-American residents of the city refused to use the buses. Most walked, those few with cars arranged rides for friends and strangers, some even rode mules. Only a small number of African-Americans rode the bus that day.

The boycott continued for over a year. It eventually took the United States Supreme Court to end the boycott. On November 13, 1956 the Court declared that Alabama’s sate and local laws requiring segregation on buses were illegal. On December 21, 1956, Dr. King and Rev. Glen Smiley, a white minister, shared the front seat of a public bus. The boycott had lasted 381 days and was a success.

I believe that Rosa Parks was one of the strongest women in this movement. Her courage and independence started freedom and equality through the south. She gave other blacks the strength to stand up for themselves and what they believe in.